Mechanical Tyranny: Movements
by TealDragonsUnite
Summary: More pieces of the puzzle. (Reuploaded and new oneshots)
1. Airshow

Flying was freedom. The crop duster never thought he could think it, and yet it was true. It wasn't tied to the chores he was bound to before he started racing… flying was so much more than that. He wheeled about in the high, sparse clouds, trying his best not to look down as he flipped into another high-g loop. G-force didn't matter so much, anyways… it just made the trick sound more death-defying than it was.

He startled a little when his train of thought was interrupted. " _Crophopper 7, wrap your performance,_ " a monotone voice said, somewhat garbled in the radio transmission.

"Roger that."

The next minute was filled with the most dazzling tricks he could think of, almost tumbling at one point, before he quickly descended, his landing greeted by smiles and cheers. The rather gray airbase was definitely making use of this uplift, and he was more than glad to help in providing it.

As soon as he got off the landing strip, Dusty was immediately greeted by a couple press vehicles, one of them holding a microphone. "Dusty! That was a fantastic show. Do you have anything to say to the folks at home?"

That was his cue. He cleared his throat, quickly recalling his lines. "Well, the military tour is meant to show off bases like Luke, including all the others I've been to already. They're doing everything in their power to make sure this world is a safe place… but they need help. If you're able to join or assist the military in any way, you should _._ "

The news reporter quickly thanked him, turning back to the camera to say some closing words before cutting the live feed… the stories kept getting shorter and shorter, he noticed, even if it was because there was a lot of news to deliver. Or, rather, he thought that was the reason.

Dusty looked out among the crowd, getting a feel for how needed he was at the moment. The roar of a jet engine echoed through the base, quickly grasping the crowd's attention almost completely. He mingled a little, of course posing for a few pictures, and then began to maneuver himself towards the outskirts of the crowd. The attention shouldn't be drawn to him while someone else was performing.

Except he wasn't totally alone. A smaller black plane was watching from the barricaded outskirts of the base, a dark visor covering its eyes - it was probably watching the show like everyone else. Why didn't it come join the crowd?

Dusty paused, looking at it for a minute in curiosity… it looked familiar, even if he'd never seen a plane like it. It looked like a B-2… but it was much too small, and it had two vertical stabilizers instead of being without a tail. The white "EXP" on its side denoted that it was experimental.

He got a little closer. "Excuse me? Sorry to bother you… but I feel like we've met before."

The plane lurched backwards a couple inches, startled, before it quickly turned to retreat into the hangars.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you." Dusty quickly followed, trying to keep pace. "...but I'd really like to know-"

The plane stopped, turning back to him for a moment and saying something… but he couldn't understand it. It sounded like it was speaking using a computer-type language, and its voice didn't give any assistance in determining its gender.

"I don't understand."

It paused for another moment before speaking again. "Go. Away."

He looked back towards where the show was being held, taken aback by the plane's words, and in that moment, it took the opportunity to continue its path back to the hangars. Dusty watched it go, disappointed and still trying to figure out how exactly he recognized it.

Wait. The initials on its tail.

"Is that you, Tera?"

The plane froze in its tracks.

How was _that_ Tera? He paused, trying to figure out what to say. "...Clara told me to look for you."

Silence. A long, almost painful silence.

"She's been waiting for _months_."

The plane didn't move.

"Why didn't you call her? What _happened_? Obviously a lot, but-"

"They _planned it_ ," she snarled, her inhuman voice making Dusty jump back a bit. Tera paused. "You're scared."

"No, I'm not," Dusty countered, immediately becoming defensive. "Just startled."

"Liar." She turned around, facing him. He could only guess that her glare was icier than he'd ever seen it. "Would anyone even know who I was if I tried to contact them?"

"Probably not, but that's not the point. Clara needs you. She won't-"

"I hope they draft her."

"...what? How could you-"

" _You_ said it. Everyone that has the capability should join."

"That's not what I meant… that's what They want me saying. I need to promote it when I go on tours like this!"

"Probably a good thing." She moved towards him, all her control surfaces upwards as a show of dominance. "If they weren't drafting people then I'd be scrap metal. Besides, they won't have to rip her wings or tail off or anything. Just get rid of the propeller. And once they fix her she's in for life. Keeps the public _safe_."

Dusty shakily retreated a little, wearing an otherwise defiant expression. "She's not you, Tera. And she needs to know you're okay."

"She'd be hurting more if she found out."

"Found out what? Just because you-"

"You don't get it. _I. Can't. Leave._ "

"Says who? Just get the clearan-"

"I _can't_."

He paused, staring at her for a moment. "Is this because I broke up with you?"

"NO!" The continued roaring of jets kept the plane from drawing attention. "I shouldn't even be _out_ here and you do this-"

"Well, when someone just disappears-"

"You don't need to know what happened." It was clear she was struggling to make her speech understandable… she barely even sounded female to begin with. She turned back towards where she was originally going.

Dusty sighed. "You're making it a bigger deal than it is."

"Do you know what it feels like to not be in control of something?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Answer the question."

Dusty decided to just go with it. Anything to keep this plane from trying to kill him… and she already wasn't running on all cylinders. "...you remember when my gearbox started failing? You weren't there until later, but-"

"That's not what I mean. Did you ever _have_ to keep dusting crops? Could you stop when you wanted?"

"Well, yeah… I had a life back then, too. I trained with Chug and-"

"You raced. You raced until you couldn't anymore. Then you became a firefighter. And now you race again. Do you want to go back to dusting crops?"

He was even more confused than before, but answered the statement regardless. "No."

"That's what you're built for."

Crap. "But it's not the same for everybody. Some people love their jobs, and others just aren't a good fit… and then they figure out that they're more than that."

She was quiet for a second. "You're human."

Dusty's eyes widened. "...what…"

"Am I wrong?"

"...you… you're not supposed to know that…"

Dusty was cornered. Tera leaped on the opportunity. "You're as human as anyone. You think you're _so great_ just because you can pick whatever the heck you want to do. _Promoting_ it like it's what everyone's supposed to do when a lot of us _can't_."

"At least I can be a beacon of hope for some people! Tera, you don't understand what-"

"No, I don't. I can't even _imagine_ a freedom like that. You don't have programming telling you what you want and don't want to do. I know I shouldn't be picking out the weak members of a crowd, but I do," she said, watching Dusty become more terrified by the second. She grinned. "You thought I was watching the airshow."

He tried to back off even further. "...something's wrong with you…"

"If I was supposed to be a civilian." She made a motion equivalent to a shrug. "But I'm not. Why do you think I tried to kill you all those months ago? You were smart to end our relationship when you did."

"...is this some kind of guilt trip?"

"No. It's not. I'm here because I could hurt people anywhere else."

They were silent for a moment, Dusty contemplating his next move. "I'm telling Clara. I made a promise, and I'm gonna keep it."

She couldn't get beyond the barriers. "Don't! It'll just-" her speech broke down into the original computer language he'd heard her use.

Dusty couldn't tell if she was distraught or angry. Probably a combination of the two, knowing her. He watched for a moment. "You're on that side. I'm on this side. The runway's over there. And they're not gonna move those fences until we're all out of here."

The stealth plane snarled, lunging at the weighted barrier in an attempt to get through it. All she managed to do was scratch her paint, some of her original silver showing underneath. "YOU IDIOT YOU'LL RUIN HER!"

"Maybe not. Clara can hold her own in a fight… maybe the military would do her good. If she does something that gets her drafted."

Tera was visibly fuming, heat radiating off her engines as if she were going to explode. "You're all the same. Humans. Are we just workhorses to you?"

He sighed. "...I can't reason with you right now. You don't trust me, anyways."

"I won't ever trust a human again. They've done _nothing_ but give me false hope. I don't even know if I _can_ hope. I don't have real emotions."

" _Now_ you're not thinking straight."

"Would _you_? I wanna see you go through the kind of training-"

" _Training?_ Don't even _start-_ " A couple of cars meandered their way towards Dusty, giggling all the while. He caught a glance of them, quickly cooling the argument. "If you'll excuse me, I'm actually working right now."

"Working or _flirting?_ "

Dusty ignored her, turning away and greeting the fans with a warm smile. "Sorry about my friend. What's up?"

They glanced at each other awkwardly. The braver of the two spoke up. "Friend?"

The crop duster looked back to see an empty tarmac, the slight outline of a plane quietly moving away from the point of conflict. He tried not to look too surprised. "She's... shy."

More nervous giggles. "You're adorable! Um…"

"Autograph?"

"Please?" One of them had a piece of paper, pushing it towards him hopefully.

He winked. "Sure thing."


	2. Another Piece of the Puzzle

It'd been too long since Dusty had been back to Propwash… and also the last time he let a tour be extended three times in a row. Even if airshows were fun, he had his limits, and missed his hometown dearly.

But something wasn't right. Air Traffic was friendly enough, but they didn't greet him in the customary way… like they didn't know him. The runway was covered in fresh skid marks, visible even before he touched down - but as he did so, he realized the town was in even more disrepair than it was before. The Fill N' Fly was all but destroyed, papers fluttering around in the breeze, looking as if they'd been torn out of-

Dottie's books. The ones she prized and refused to let anyone so much as touch without her supervision. A stray military vehicle or two milled about otherwise, but the town seemed empty.

"H-hello?" Dusty asked, becoming more concerned by the second. "...anyone here? Dottie?"

No response. One of the military vehicles glanced at him quickly before looking away again and going about its business.

"...what the heck happened here?"

He was talking to himself at this point, but he did begin to realize that a lot of people were just… gone. Or in hiding. Heading to the outskirts of town, he realized that it was the former. Tera's - or Omega's, rather - hangar was still padlocked shut from months ago. A pang of guilt hit him when he saw it. She wouldn't be coming back… not anytime soon, anyways.

Foxtrot had already been missing for a while, but the state of his and Clara's home revealed that his wife was gone, as well. The doors were both ajar, even if nothing inside had been touched by anything except for nature. Not to mention the crater that was yet another hangar further down the street. Air raid? Or was it just Felix accidentally blowing something up?

Wait. Where was Skipper?

Without a second thought, he bolted to the Corsair's hangar at the end of the runway, relieved to find that the light was still on - everything looked peaceful and lived in. Semblance of normality. He poked the doorbell with his wing, an uncomfortable amount of time passing before the Skipper opened the door. "Just making sure you weren't…" the word didn't need to be said. If Dusty understood anything at that point, it's that the military presence was making the remaining citizens slightly paranoid. It was even getting to Dusty, which was really saying something.

"But what-"

"Come inside. I'm not talking out here." The crop duster obeyed wordlessly, the Skipper making sure the door was shut behind him. "...you've missed a lot, Dusty."

"You don't have to tell me that. Just… start from the beginning."

The Skipper did just that - the two planes talked for hours, with the Skipper doing most of the talking and Dusty listening in horror. The vast majority of the military planes had indeed been taken by the government, but most of them were rounded up when they sent a small army to Propwash, going after Felix. "Don't ask me why They wanted him, but they did, so they got him. They took Dottie, too."

"But… what did she do?"

"Something about her books… they were contraband for whatever reason."

Dusty felt like he couldn't breathe. "Any idea where they took them?"

"I dunno. If I did they'd probably want _me_ , too. I've had at least two of 'em knocking on my door asking if I wanted to go back into active service… at least they're givin' me the option for now. How could _I_ keep up with those fancy jets? I can't even..."

The crop duster just left the Corsair to ramble for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts. "...upgrades."

He stopped mid-sentence, almost laughing. "There is no amount of upgrading that would-"

"No… listen. They've been sending me to all those airbases, and I saw Tera-"

His eyes widened. "...are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am!" Dusty almost looked angry. "And I _know_ it was her because she was still pissed at me for everything and just as crazy as before... but… she wasn't the same."

"What do you mean?"

"She was a stealth jet. They must've completely rebuilt her from the ground up or something, because she… she wasn't a racer anymore. I didn't even know that was _possible_. And if they took Clara, then they're probably gonna do the same thing to her…" he swallowed, shuddering a little at the thought. "...that would hurt…"

"No kiddin'." The Skipper looked uncomfortable at the mention, letting the room fall silent for a minute or two. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Me? What _can_ I do about it?"

The Skipper looked at Dusty thoughtfully. "You should do some travellin', I think."

"But I was just on a tour!"

"No, not like that. You should go _on your own_. See what you can find. Or get out of _here_ at least."

"What, do you not trust Them all of a sudden?"

"Do you?"

Dusty was quiet for a minute. "...I don't know. And even if I didn't trust Them, I wouldn't know where to start-"

"You're a celebrity. You have clearance to-" Before the words even left his mouth, though, Dusty had turned to head out the door. "...where are you going?"

"Back to Luke."


End file.
